An interview with Shamim Zafar, Chief Executive, Karigar Training Institute: 'Vocational training needs wider government patronage'

Karigar Training Institute (KTI) is a vocational training institute imparting varied technical courses primarily for electricians, plumbers, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics and motorbike technicians, purely on non-commercial basis. Formed in 2009, KTI has grown in size and stature and helps students from underprivileged backgrounds to learn skills.
BR Research recently visited the KTI facility in Karachi and sat down with Mr Shamim Zafar, the institute's Chief Executive. Mr. Zafar gave an overview of the vocational training institutes, KTI's own performance, and the need to generate more donations to keep the training institutes up and running. Below are edited excerpt of the conversation.
BR Research: What was the core thought behind a vocational training institute in Karachi? Was it lack of any such institutes or the general decay in the society that pushed you?
Shamim Zafar: Pakistan's population has grown at a brisk pace, and within it is the ever increasing ratio of youth. Earlier, as a large proportion of our population was not literate, much was said and done to raise the literacy rates. As a result, rapidly increasing numbers of youth obtained schooling with thousands have matriculated. But sadly, a huge majority of these high school pass outs have no skills.
It is even more dangerous for literates of any degree without skill to not get employed. And when they do not find employment, they indulge in undesirable activities, such as a variety of street and other crimes. If you look at the situation closely, you will find most petty criminals with some educational certificate. The dire situation strengthens my view that vocational training is more important than schooling or health. To me, vocational training could be the answer to rising militancy amongst our youth.
We have also observed that donors are emotional and would generally help in case of medical and educational services. The world has recognised the fact that vocational training in countries like ours is a must. We have seen that recognition turning into ground reality as globally renowned donors such as USAID working in this sphere.
BRR: When did your idea translate into a reality and how has the journey been in terms of progress and track record of students?
SZ: I had been working on the concept since 2008, and the institute commenced operations in March 2009. Enrolment is a major challenge faced by most vocational training institutes and as a result, they do not utilise their full capacity. This is because of a mind-set which gives more importance to status and skilled workers do not get the status and dignity that they deserve. At Karigar, we have capacity to induct 240 students per annum, but on an average we have 180 students with us, accounting for the mid-course drop outs. Punjab is doing a much better job in vocational training. Sindh, on the other hand, has not been as robust, partly due to lack of active public sector patronage and attention.
In Karachi, Aman and Hunar are the two larger, more widely known names in vocational training. Karigar is smaller but has been recognised for training excellence in several relevant sectors. Some institutes believe they are producing skilled workers in six or twelve months, whereas I believe that skilled workers cannot be trained even in two years by any training institute, as real life experiences for 2-5 years are essential to develop the requisite level of skills.
Institutes can train semi-skilled workers who are more employable as compared to unskilled labour and also have the potential to become highly skilled much faster than those who have not had formal training.
In a little over eight years, more than one thousand of our students have learnt various skills and are now earning decent livelihoods in their respective fields, at home and abroad. As enough jobs are not being created in Pakistan, we encourage our trainees to seek employment abroad or start their own business for which we offer interest free loans.
Vocational skills training promote employability and social stability through poverty alleviation. Therefore, donors should perhaps give more importance to vocational skills training as compared to health and education sectors.
BRR: Do you have any sort of formal agreements with any industry or companies in that regard?
SZ: No, we do not have any formal agreements with anyone. It is mostly based on personal contacts. We arrange weekly sessions in which representatives from different companies speak to our trainees on subjects other than course content. This is something that no one else is doing, as we work hard on personality development, confidence building and grooming.
We have made it a point to tell the students that first job after the certification is very important for gaining experience and as such monetary considerations should not determine acceptance of a job offer, not the amount on offer. That is again a mindset issue, and we are trying our bit to change it, and the results thus far are encouraging. We are striving to make students realise that the significance of certification does not go beyond five years - after that it is your skills based on learning experience that counts.
BRR: How does the curriculum design go about? Do you do things any differently from what other institutes are doing?
SZ: The curriculum was developed by the Trade Testing Board, Sindh, a government institution. The Board also conducts external examinations of our trainees at the end of each course. We have obviously made gradual improvements over the years, to keep pace with technological changes. There is not a massive difference between curriculum of different training institutes. It is the processes and the extra care and personality development side that we offer, that we think is our differentiation factor.
We put great emphasis on practical training which is why our students are recognised for their higher skills level. Our workshop instructors are not very highly educated, but are masters in their fields. For theory purposes, we have visiting faculty who are subject specialists and are more qualified. Highly qualified instructors may be able to teach you a lot of theory but they cannot impart skills by showing how to do a job.
BRR: Do you help your students in job placements or internships?
SZ: We have a mandatory two month internship policy for our students. We ensure 300 hours of internship programme for every student, without which, we do not issue our certificate and not allow students to appear in the board examination. That is because we realise the value of hands on experience and a number of students are picked for jobs during internships.
BRR: What is the intake capacity of the industries, both in terms of sheer number and specialised needs? Does the number of students getting certificates every year match well with jobs on offer?
SZ: The industries do not generally require the kind of skill set, we at Karigar or our bigger counterparts are providing. The best options for them are to either go abroad to find a well paid job, or be their won bosses. The issue with industry is that they all have very specialised needs in small numbers and you cannot train for such small numbers. There are a handful of companies in each sector and that is never a feasible idea to develop programmes for specialised needs. It is rather advisable for the industries to collaborate and run a training programme of their own, and we can contribute via some assistance.
BRR: Don't you think the CPEC progress and the infrastructure and industrial development related to it, will ultimately create more demand for such semi-skilled workers?
SZ: What we can do but have not done so far is to train for civil engineering needs. This sector has a large number of contractors/employers. We do have it in our plans and if and when we expand our courses, we might want to look into this side. We are also considering introduction of training for white collar jobs, as a large number of youth is reluctant to do manual work as skilled labour.
BRR: What is and should be the role of the public sector in vocational training patronage and policy?
SZ: They have lots of institutions. They were first developed in 1960s, but have since deteriorated very fast and the situation is abysmal. They have the financial muscle, machines and infrastructure, but it eventually comes down to management, which is very poor in that case. Vocational training needs active government patronage. Public private partnership is talked about a lot and there is no denying its importance, but the ground realities are different, as there is no willingness found on that end. We were offered a few institutes, but it has not worked well yet. The need is definitely there, but someone with a strong political will in the relevant ministry needs to be in charge.
BRR: How does Karigar arrange its finances? Do the donations also work on personal contact basis or does the institute have donor agencies supporting the cause?
SZ: Personal contacts will always carry importance, no matter how big you grow. We do have various agencies supporting us, which includes the likes of Sindh government and USAID. There are a few private sector organizations that support our cause; Rehnuma, Jehangir Siddiqui, and Getz Pharma to name a few.
Raising donations is no doubt a daunting task, but we work hard to maintain a constant stream of funds. We have not yet by the grace of Almighty, faced financial challenges of such nature that may threaten our operations. We manage our resources carefully and have an endowment fund, which is gradually building up. The real challenge that we may face is the lack of funds to execute our expansion plans. We want to reach more people and tell about our achievements. Donations are no doubt a great need at the moment.